Love
by Kimmie-Reivers
Summary: Chad manages to score MVP for the championship game, while Taylor, after being taken to LA by a talent scout, pursues her secret dream in becoming an actress. When Chad and Taylor cross paths, will the unresolved tension from high school be solved?
1. Breaking

_A/N: So I know everyone… it's been a while since I made a story! I've been really busy with homecoming and a play coming up. This is the Chaylor story I promised and it'll be a little different than what normal Chaylors are, so enjoy and don't forget to R & R! The story is inspired by Keisha Cole's song "Love" which I do not own… {Super thanks to my beta, allyxocorbin!!!}_

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**As I leaned in for the kiss, I didn't feel any hate or remorse for it, oddly. In fact I wanted to kiss him more. His smell, the feel of his lips on mine and the way his hands ran through my hair, they all made me want to jump him then and there. When he pulled me in for another, I didn't oppose as he eagerly slipped his tongue into my mouth. We continued going at each other until he was on top of me.**

**"I know we haven't been the best of friends, but Taylor, I'd like to make an arrangement with you…" Chad trailed off, looking directly at me. "I want us to still be friends… but I also want to give this whole relationship thing a test run." Chad continued. I looked at him somewhat angry and confused.**

**"You mean 'friends with benefits'****? Oh… this is rich! I knew you were full of yourself…" I say, pushing Chad off me, fixing my clothes and getting up to leave. I turned around when Chad grabbed me by the arm.**

**"Not friends with benefits, that's cliche… I want to be in a relationship with you without anyone knowing, not even our friends. I want to keep this out of the press, because we both understand that once they know, we'll both end up heartbroken. Considering they've managed to break up solid marriages… so it hasn't shown to be hard for them to break up couples…" Chad explained, the caring look in his eyes, made my heart melt.**

**"Explain what exactly you want from me then Danforth…" I said and despite my feelings, I struggled to keep my angry demeanor.**

**"I want to go to places together… hold hands and don't have to worry about it being in a magazine. I want to kiss you in public and people look at us because we're a couple in love. Not a celebrity couple… Plus, I want to do this." Chad says, catching me by surprise and kissing me. My guard finally breaks as he backs me into a nearby wall. "I-want-to-make-love-to-you-and-not-have-to-worry-****about-anything-except-when-I'll-be-able-to-do-it-again." Chad managed, as I kissed him and ran my hand through his curly hair and pulled him closer to me. **

**Already done with the teasing, I pulled Chad's shirt over his head, and momentarily broke the kiss. Chad let me down, briefly, to grab away all my clothes and within moments, I was pressed back against the wall, my legs wrapped around his waist/**

**I was about to do something I never thought I'd do.**

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_Feel free to tell me what you think! I'm not gonna say "I need 100000 reviews for the next chapter" Just let me know if you enjoyed it!_


	2. From the Beginning

A/N: Sorry I took so long, my Beta and I were trying to make this chapter flawless! Big thanks to allyxocorbin :D

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"_Taylor, I thought we were going to move in together after college and after someone from the NBA recruited me, we'd get married. This acting thing is going to mess that up!"_

"_Well actually, there was a pull-factor to this deal… There was the getting away from you that seemed appealing too, considering you've been cheating on me. How long have you been with her?" I asked calmly._

"_Wha-what are you talking about Taylor? I'd never cheat on you." He answered nervously. Even if I didn't know, I would've known now._

"_Don't fucking lie to me Chad. You and I both know you're sneaking around with that skank from West High! I saw you with my own eyes… That's it Chad… I can't love you anymore."_

_**About now is where I would've loved to wake up from that nightmare. We'd never fought about anything and to me; this was some weird dream place where Chad and I fought all the time. I never thought it'd become a reality.**_

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**Chad and I met in high school. Most people thought we only dated because our best friends were dating, but it was more than that. Chad and I had been dating since our freshmen year. We'd kept it a secret, because we didn't want to make anyone, namely Sharpay, unhappy or, rather jealous. I, along with everyone else, knew Sharpay had an obvious crush on Chad, but she refused to admit it. She even went as far as to make Chad's life difficult in high school.**

**Once Gabriella came along and started to shake up things with Troy, Chad and I decided to just let our relationship go public. This attracted the least attention, considering everyone was focused on Troy and Gabriella.**

**Once Troy and Gabriella started the whole 'breaking free' thing, it made Chad and I realize it wasn't about what people thought about us. To be honest, they taught us and the whole entire school, what we had known all along: It didn't matter what other people thought about you. It was what you thought about yourself. All this made me come to the term with the plain truth: I was in love with Chad Danforth and there was nothing no one could say or do anything about it. Or at least before I saw something I shouldn't have, and it drove Chad and I apart.**

"_**Chad. What if Taylor finds out about us? She's going to freak." A girl's voice squeaked. Of course my first level of defense was to deny it, though even I knew I couldn't deny the truth. Everything was right there in front my face and my heart refused to let me believe it.**_

_**Chad was cheating on me and he lied when he said he wasn't. **_

"_**Shh, someone might hear you. Anyway we've got to hurry this up, I promised Taylor we'd go out to eat tonight and she's probably waiting for me, like a good girlfriend." I peeked around the row of lockers and the sight I tried so hard to deny, was right in front of me. **_

_**For some masochist reason, I stood there and watched. When they were done, I watched him clean himself up. When we got ready to go, the girl called to him.**_

"_**Chad… you love me right?" She asked, the love in her voice prominent. I watched Chad for a solid minute, until he smirked and kissed her on the cheek.**_

"_**Of course I do baby." Chad answered genuinely indifferent. The girl smiled and waited until Chad left out of the locker room. When I heard the door close behind her, I walked from my observing place, and walked to the gym. Before I walked out the locker room, my phone began to ring. It was Chad probably wanted to know where I was. **_

_**When I sat in the front seat of his car, I pretended not to smell the cheap perfume and sweat emitting from him. It was a miracle I made it through dinner. When he dropped me off at home, I refused to let him kiss me.**_** To this day, when Chad crosses my mind, I can still clearly smell the sweat and perfume, as if he is sitting right next to me.**

"_**What? No kiss?" Chad asked, looking disappointed. I looked at him, closed the car door behind me and went into my house.**_

**After the senior musical, a man approached me, asking to talk to me for a minute. My first reaction was amazement because, I'd thought my performance was okay, due to my resentment of Chad, but to my surprise this man thought I'd done well. Other than the fact that I had yet to tell my best friends about Chad's unfaithfulness, and my resentment towards him, I'd tried harder than I had my entire life, to suck it up and get the play done. **

**At first we started talking about the performance, and how much he loved mine. As a matter of fact, he thought my acting and singing was a source of untapped talent. When he told me all I needed to do was to polish my singing, I started to get suspicious. At first I thought it all was a joke and that someone would come out with a hidden camera. When he asked me if I'd like to come to Los Angeles and pursue a career in show business and music, I knew he was the real thing. I gingerly agreed, turning to my parents of course, who had questions. After much negotiating we settled on the deal that, once I finished college, I'd relocate to Los Angeles. My parents, of course, were ecstatic on option to finish college.**

**Immediately upon my arrival at home, I called Gabriella first.**

" **Oh my gosh, that's so awesome! I bet you're excited! Where are you- wait. Did you tell Chad yet?" Gabriella asked, still clueless to Chad's infidelity.**

"**You're the first person I've told." I answer, trying to reflect her excitement, but failing miserably.**

"**You know you should tell him Tay. You know how he feels when you don't tell him stuff." Gabriella said, defending Chad and making him sound like a misinformed boyfriend.**

"**He'll be okay… I'll tell him tomorrow. Talk to you later Gabby?" **

"**Fine, but make sure you tell him." With that, I hung up the phone. I then decided to call everyone, except Chad, making sure he would be the last to know. **

**Everyone was generally happy for me, except Zeke.**

"**I just don't understand why you have to go to LA. Why can't you stay here?" To an onlooker, Zeke probably sounded like my boyfriend. Thanks to a recent marriage, Zeke was now my second cousin. It really didn't make that big of a change in our relationship, due to the fact Zeke had always treated me like a little sister, than a friend.**

**"I want to experience something new. I want a change of scenery and people..." I spout the reason, I'd told everyone. **

**To be completely honest, I was shocked to realize Zeke hadn't seen throught my obviously ingenuine explaination.**

**When I finally broke the news to Chad, he seemed the most upset about it.**

"**Taylor, I thought we were going to move in together after college and after someone from the NBA recruited me, we'd get married. This acting thing is going to mess that up!" I nodded and stared at him, amazed by how long I'd managed to stay with him. **

"**Well actually, there was a pull-factor to this deal…" I started, ready to let him in on what he thought was his little secret. "There was getting away from you that seemed appealing too, considering you've been cheating on me. How long have you been with her?" I asked calmly, reading his horrified expression. **

"**Wha-what are you talking about Taylor? I've never cheated on you." He answered nervously. Even if I didn't know, I would've known now.**

"**Don't fucking lie to me Chad. You and I both know you're sneaking around with that skank from West High! I saw you with my own eyes." I felt my voice choke with tears. Before that Chad and I had never fought about anything. "That's it Chad… I can't love you anymore." I replied, my calmness returning. After that moment, I never spoke to Chad again. **

**When it was time to head off to college, I'd taken UCLA up on their offer, complete with a free-ride scholarship. Everyone was disappointed to hear I was leaving except Sharpay. Besides Martha, Ryan and Kelsi, everyone was going to the University of Albuquerque. Martha was heading to Yale and Ryan and Kelsi were both going to Julliard.**

**I'd planned to go to U of A like everyone else, but the idea of being around Chad for another four years didn't hold my best interest. Some people could practically say, I'd been planning to be Mrs. Taylor Anne Danforth since I was 14 years old. To change the plans I'd set up in the last four years had been hard, but it was something that needed to be done. For the first month, I cried myself to sleep. Then the other months, I spent the rest of my time, trying to convince myself I was better off without Chad.**

**The day before I left for UCLA, Chad showed up at my doorstep. My father refused to let him in and when I gazed down at the doorstep, I saw my dad turn Chad away. Before he walked to his car, Chad looked up and caught my gaze. When I finally saw him, the tears I'd been suppressing for months streamed down my face. Before he could hurt me any further, I walked away from the window, determined not to let Chad steal what little joy I'd managed to convince myself I deserved.**

**With no further word from Chad, I left for UCLA the next day.**


	3. Fresh Start

_A/N: So here's the next installment of Love. Sorry I've been so long with it, I'm kind of in a short on and off hiatus :) R & R!_**As soon as I stepped off the plane, I felt the warm, crisp Californian air fill my lungs. To be honest, compared to New York's lights being inspiring, California's sunshine made me ****feel like I could do anything I put my mind to. To say I started school with a clear mind may not have been the total truth, but I did feel refreshed.**

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**Almost immediately as I stepped onto the UCLA campus, my outlook on life was brightened. I couldn't help but notice the looks I got from seemingly older kids, which all said 'She must be a freshman...' As I walked towards the administrator's office, a gorgeous guy worked up the courage to talk to me.**

"**Hi, I'm Bryan." The guy said, holding out a friend hand to me. **

"**Hi Bryan, I'm Taylor." I introduce myself, firmly shaking his hand and reluctantly pulling away. **

"**By the lost look on your face you're a freshman right?" I nod, and smile.**

"**Yes, and do I really look that lost?" I ask curiously. This guy was definitely flirting with me and by the looks of it, he was succeeding.**

"**Tell you what, how about I show you around and you go out with me Friday night?" Bryan asked, his mesmerizing baby blues pleading with me.**

"**Sure." I answered coyly, letting him show me around campus. The advantage of being shown around by a student and not, say the dean, you see plenty of interesting place. Bryan showed me everything from the best cubicle in the library to the Alpha Kappa Alpha house, individually naming each rooms occupants.**

"**Oh god Bryan! Preying on freshmen again, huh?" A tall girl, with dark brown skin shouts at him from down the hall in a bathrobe. Bryan blushes and looks at me.**

"**Shut up Cassidy!" He shouts back, smirking at the girl.**

"**You sure are popular." I say, laughing at him.**

"**Nah… Cassidy's just jealous." Bryan says, within hearing range of Cassidy. She shakes her head and walks to her room, giving Bryan the finger before walking inside. Bryan smiles at me.**

"**Yeah, she totally wants you…" I reply sarcastically, earning an amused look from Bryan.**

**After showing me to my dorm, he promises to help me organize my room, once all my stuff gets there. I even get to meet my roommate, a girl about my height, sandy hair in tight ringlets, and caramel skin. After talking to her, I learn that her name is Nicolette Pullini, she's from Beverly Hills, and that her mother is African American and her father is Italian. Boy, did she have a mouth on her. **

"**I love it here in Los Angeles! It's so sunny and the people are friendly, like back home." Nicolette, or as she made me promise to call her, Nic babbled. I nodded and tried my best to organize what little stuff I had, on my side of the room.**

"**I have yet to show you the campus gym and pool, but it doesn't compare to the beach though." Bryan sighs. Judging by his tan and body, I inferred he was a surfer.**

**After my in dept campus tour, Bryan took me to eat at a locally owned restaurant.**

"**So how do you like UCLA so far?" Bryan asks, looking at me questioningly.**

"**It's actually better than I expected. I knew about the close proximately to the beach and the wonderful weather, but it's true about how you don't know about some place until you actually visit it. I love it here." I gush, my confession putting a big smile on Bryan's face. "So anyway Bryan, tell me about you." **

"**Well I was born here in Los Angeles and I've always lived here. Going to UCLA has been a family tradition, and so naturally, this was the first application I sent out. I'm the middle child; I have an older sister Amy and a younger brother Jason. Amy graduated the year before last and Jason's a junior in high school. I'm a senior this year. Now tell me about you." Bryan replies, looking up at me. I feel my face heat up as he stares at me intently, apparently caring about what I have to say.**

"**Well I was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It's where I've lived all my life. I'm the oldest; my younger sister's name is Keily and she's a freshman in high school. My family has held the tradition to go to an Ivy League school or to the University of Albuquerque. When I chose neither, they didn't freak like I thought they would, they actually took it calmly. I'm a freshman, as you already know and I happen to be excellent at science." **

"**Wow, you're smart?" Bryan says, his face serious. I look at him, in disbelief. "I'm joking; maybe you can help me sometime in science? What's your major and minor?"**

"**I'm majoring in Biomedical Science and my minor is Theater." **

"**Wow… the science buff who could act. That's a first." Bryan remarks, smirking at me.**

"**What's yours?"**

"**I'm actually a pre-med and I minor in jazz studies." **

"**Wow… the beach buff that can play music. That's also a first. What instrument?" **

"**Actually, I play the Sax." Bryan answered, smirking at me in a way that made my heart melt. **

**For my first week at UCLA, Bryan helped me find my way around. He even managed to help me memorize the college campus not using the map given in the freshman welcome kit.**

"**Remember the library is across from the UC."**

**Not once, during the entire first month, did I even think about Chad. Gabriella and Sharpay called me non-stop. I even got phone calls from my mom**

"**Ever thing's so much bigger here. The buildings, the cafeteria, the guys…" I trail off, thinking about Bryan. **

"**It's nice to know you're enjoying yourself sweetheart." My mom replied distantly.**

"**You sound like you're distracted, is something wrong?" I ask, suddenly worried about my mom. You'd think that after 19 years plus of being a mother, she wouldn't let her emotions show.**

"**Nothing sweetheart, it's just that Chad called today and asked to talk to you. He had no idea you'd already left." The thing about my parents was that they loved Chad Danforth and always had. Chad and I would always joke that our parents had our wedding mapped out before we were both two. **

"**Mom, how many times do I have to tell you? We broke up. Chad has no reason to be calling you and asking for me. He is no longer a part of neither my life nor yours." I say, feeling aggravated that **_**my mother **_**felt bad for him. **

**Even while we dated, it bothered me how much my parents loved him. The first time I tried to sneak out to meet him and was caught, was extremely awkward.**

_**As I opened up my window and stuck a leg out, I heard something shatter. On instinct, I held my breath, listening for sounds of my parents stirring. When I didn't hear anything, I began to finish climbing. As I got my other boot clad leg through, I heard footsteps shuffle to my room and then I saw the light click on.**_

"_**Taylor Anne McKessie! Where the hell do you think you're going?" My mother asked, incredulous. After 14 years of being the perfect child, she had caught me sneaking out. As I tried to think of something, Chad drove by and blew the horn. Discreet, I muttered. My mother angrily pushed me to the side, and saw Chad. **_

"_**You're sneaking out to go with Chad?" My mother asked in a calmer voice. **_

"_**Ye-ye-yes Ma'am." I stuttered, looking at my shoes. No doubt I was ashamed at being caught at such a mundane coming-to-age stunt. **_

"_**Why didn't you say so? You can go, just be home by 1 am." My mother answered, yawning. As she shuffled out my bedroom, I looked at her back baffled by her nonchalance of my sneaking out. I sat on the window seal contemplating the illogicalness of my mother's actions, until Chad blew his horn once again. **_

_**When I got back at 12:45 am, my mother was sitting at the kitchen table reading a book.**_

"_**Did you have fun honey?" She asked, not looking up from her book. I nodded my head and walked to my room, removing the skintight skinnys, tank top, and boots and replacing them with a night gown.**_

_**In the morning, my mother and I had the strangest conversation in my life. **_

"_**Taylor why didn't you tell me you wanted to go to the concert with Chad? I would've said yes. Sometimes I swear you think you're older than 14." My mother said, shaking her head.**_

"_**I thought you would say no, and I've never sneaked out before, much less to meet a boy." I sputtered, still baffled by her coolness. **_

"_**Well Taylor, this was with Chad. I know he wouldn't hurt you or let anything happen to you. Chad's a good boy that comes from a good family. I know you'll be in good hands. That boy loves you."**_

"_**I…um… How do you know he loves me?" I asked, weirded out by my mother's knowledge of my budding love life. **_

"_**Every time he looks at you, it's like he's never seen anyone like you. He'd give you the world if you asked for it." My mother sighed smiling.**_

_**As the conversation progressed that morning, I became more creeped out by my mother. **_

"**I'm just saying men make mistakes Taylor, I talked to Mrs. Danforth the other day and she said Chad had finished packing for the U of A. She also told me for the past couple of months he's looked like he's lost his best friend. Not even Troy can cheer him up." My mother spilled, her voice easily showing her worry. You'd think she'd given birth to Chad and not me…**

"**Well my mom as much as I'd love to talk about my ex whom you love like your own child, I have work to do. I'll call you tomorrow." I said, hanging up the phone. You'd think because she was my mother, she'd be on my side. Apparently not.**


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